What's in Douglas County's proposed 2026–27 budget: taxes held steady, roads and capital push

Douglas County's CFO Lori Persch told commissioners the proposed fiscal 2026–27 budget holds the countywide property tax levy at 29.059¢ per $100 valuation and anticipates a 5.79% increase in assessed values. Persch reported a total budget of $648,092,830, of which $29.1 million is remaining ARPA funding; excluding that ARPA balance, the county's operating budget totals about $618.9 million.

Persch presented the most significant shifts: a roads fund increase to $82.1 million (up about $6.4 million) driven by gas tax and state/federal highway allocations, and plans to transfer $26.6 million from the inheritance tax fund — $5 million each to the county health center and CMHC and $4.2 million reserved for an ERP modernization. She said: "The general fund budget this year, excluding $29,100,000 of ARPA funding, is 306,600,000, which is only 2.5 percent over last year's final modified budget." The county will also use an additional $2 million from inheritance tax to supplement ARPA projects and $4 million over three years for deferred building maintenance.

Persch emphasized that most Duet-like social-service funding is fee-for-service Medicaid: "97% comes through Medicaid, 3% from the counties," a point later echoed in the Duet presentation. The budget includes $675,000 set aside from opioid settlements and noted the county maintains an inheritance tax fund balance projected to be roughly $62.6 million after planned draws. Persch said the county has unused property-tax request authority — roughly $6 million — under the state's slice index but does not plan to lift the levy.